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First of all, the format here is inspired from the GMAT experience post of Guptaji which is featured in the best GMAT stories list as well. You can see it here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/750-q49-v42-85824.html. So thanks to him for writing such a wonderful and inspiring story and helping so many people. Please note, this will be a long story as I will try to give every detail that may help.
Background
I am in the clichéd IIM category – Indian IT Male. To add to that, I was 34 and had more than 11 years of experience when I wrote GMAT. And I had to manage a 30 member team at my workplace with extended office hours. Most MBA blogs, B-Schools (only after I applied) and even admission consultants suggested that I should probably go for an executive MBA only. But I was keen to go back to school to have the ‘Full Time’ experience of being a student again. Probably, this time, to be a student of life.
My wife was very supportive as she had to sacrifice a lot of quality time I could spend with her to allow me to prepare for GMAT, TOEFL and the entire application process. I am really thankful to her for her support. She has more sacrifices to make when I spend the next one year in Oxford while she continues with her job in Kolkata, India.
I wrote GMAT in August, 2015, but I am writing the experience now mainly for two reasons – first, I had to concentrate on my application process and second, I wanted to see the impact of GMAT score on my application so that I could bring in those aspects as well. I have discussed about that in more details in my application experience post here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/indian-it-male-age-35-13-interview-4-admits-2-full-scholarships-219953.html#p1695073.
Also, you can find my TOEFL experience debrief here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/toefl-score-of-112-in-3-days-indian-candidate-219952.html.
Enough of background. Now let’s come to the main story.
Total preparation time for GMAT – Exactly 2 Months between June and August.
List of Materials and Professional Help
I registered for the GMAT distance tutorial from Experts Global. It was good for me as it did not require me to waste my time in travelling and it was flexible as I could study the material whenever I wanted to and whenever I had time. I told them that I could study for 2 hours on weekdays and 5 hours on weekends and they prepared an elaborate day-wise plan accordingly. Before that, I shared my initial score for the exam they sent and I also shared my perception about my strengths and weaknesses. I tweaked that plan a bit as per my need and timings, but the basic part was not changed.
The materials I used are listed below -
Verbal:
1. Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide 5th edition
2. Official Guide 13, 14 & 15 (15 – Thoroughly, 13 & 14 – Only touched them)
3. Verbal Review for Official Guide 2nd Edition (Only a few SC and CR questions)
4. Princeton Review
5. Princeton’s 1012 extra questions (Only RC)
6. Power Score CR Bible
7. Expert Global Materials
Quants:
1. Official Guide 15
2. Nova’s Data Sufficiency (DS only)
3. GMAT Challenge Sets – Jeff Stackmann
4. Quatum CAT (Probability, Numbers, Inequality, Permutation & Combination, Set Theory, Geometry, Co-ordinates)
5. Expert Global Materials
Test Resources:
1. GMAT prep (latest version)
2. GMAT prep (older version)
3. GMAT prep Exam Pack
4. Manhattan GMAT tests (MGMATs)
5. Princeton tests
Sentence Correction
As with most other Indian engineers, verbal was my weak link. I would not say that SC was the weakest part, but it was certainly the most baffling part. Sometimes I would correctly find out the answer by using my common sense and sometimes I would make a silly mistake by not understanding the correct approach and falling into the trap.
Please note, GMAT verbal is lot about common sense and not falling into the trap of common mistakes we do every day, rather than having a strong grasp over English grammar and vocabulary. SC is the one part where common sense combined with right approach helps a lot. Yes, your basic grammar needs to be good, otherwise it might be difficult.
Fortunately, I was good with grammar and that helped. But still I could not avoid the traps in the beginning. Remember, in GMAT verbal, as they say, there is really no correct answer, there is a best answer. So, the best way to find it is to eliminate the wrong answers and the second best answers.
For the easier SC questions there will be four incorrect choices. But for the harder questions there will only be 2-3 grammatically incorrect choices and there will be at least 1 or 2 second best choices that are grammatically correct, but either changes the meaning of the sentence or sounds awkward. In these cases, you need to use a lot of common sense and you need to understand the meaning and tone of the sentence. To develop accuracy in this part, one needs a lot of practice.
The best book for this is obviously the Manhattan SC guide which will help you understand the GMAT grammar part and how it uses the traps. However, the common sense and meaning of sentence part discussed above can only be improved by practising the official questions from OG, Verbal review, GMATPrep and understanding the answer choice explanations. You need to exactly know why and how they remove incorrect and second best choices.
I read the Princeton review book on the first day and completed the Manhattan SC guide on the next two days. After that, I practiced at least 10 SC questions almost every day in my 2 months of preparation, as I understood that practice is the only thing that will improve my SC. It really helped as I answered around 90% of the official questions correctly within time in the last stage.
Reading Comprehension
RC was a weak point for me as it ate into valuable time. I was initially very slow to read and understand the passages and then while answering questions I took a lot of time to find out the correct area. In spite of all this, still I would get some questions incorrect by falling into the traps. One aspect of practising a lot of official questions and reading all answer explanations thoroughly is that it helps you understand all kind of traps that GMAT uses to make you select an incorrect choice.
The RC was another part that I practiced almost every day after I went through the Princeton book and the Manhattan RC guide. I attempted at least 10 questions or 2 passages every day. In the beginning, I paused a bit after reading each passage to summarize it in my head and I used to write the main idea of each paragraph. I wrote the main idea of the passage at the end from the main ideas of the paragraphs. This process took me longer but it helped me find the relevant areas of the passage quickly after reading the questions and helped me answer the main idea questions.
In the last three weeks of my practice when the summarizing became convenient to me I used to do the summarizing in my head only and did not write it down as it was saving some precious time. Now, my memory is generally good, at least people say that and I trust them and my memory. If you are not that confident then you should write it down, probably you may try some shorthand technique there.
In the last stage of my practice, again my accuracy improved to almost 90% in a time bound manner.
Critical Reasoning
After giving my first practice exam, I got a false impression that I am relatively stronger in CR in the verbal part. However, when I started the time bound practice and gave my first GMATPrep exam, I understood my mistake as in some cases I got almost 40% incorrect and took the most time on average in a section in the verbal part.
After that only, I started to read Power Score CR Bible. It took me a few days as it is a big book, but it is totally worth it. You will have the right idea about how to approach each type of questions. Earlier, I was only using my common sense and reasoning. But you also need the right approach and do some pre-thinking to avoid the traps. Again, it requires a lot of practice and I did at least 10 questions every day. My accuracy was around 85% in the last stages. As it is for other areas in verbal, you need to go through the official explanations for each incorrect choice thoroughly to understand why and how 4 answer choices are eliminated. The whole verbal part is about eliminating 4 answer choices to find the best answer in a timely manner. If you are not sure or short on time then eliminate three and make an educated guess on the rest two.
Problem Solving
As Maths (Arithmetic and Algebra in particular) was my favourite subject in School and as I am an Indian Engineer, Quants was my strength. So, rather than reading any book, I just jumped into solving questions. I found OG questions to be simpler. But the GMAT Challenge Sets by Jeff Stackmann were really good. They are perfect if you are targeting a high score in Quants. I did practice all the sets.
When I was doing the problem solving from these sets then only I found that I am doing silly mistakes by falling into the traps. My accuracy was 90%, however in most areas I could have achieved 100% if I was more careful. After 2-3 weeks I started noting the times and I tried to answer 20 questions within 40 minutes. My accuracy dropped to 80%. I continued practising in a time bound manner and just before the GMAT my accuracy was around 95%.
I was not very strong in Probability, permutation and combination and some of the number problems like remainder and power. I studied from the books mentioned above and I studied Quantum CAT for Probability, permutation and combination. I improved a lot on these and was able to solve the questions a lot quicker as my GMAT date came nearer.
Data Sufficiency
Though my Maths was strong, I struggled with DS a bit in the beginning. However, again the GMAT Challenge Sets by Jeff Stackmann were very helpful. Nova’s Data Sufficiency is also a very good resource if you are struggling in DS. It has very good questions in Inequality, geometry and Co-ordinates which were a bit weak areas for me. My accuracy was 80% in the beginning, with time bound manner it dropped to 70%. But I improved to around 90% in a time bound manner just before the actual test.
Again you need to practice a lot and try to practice at least 10 questions every day to do well in DS.
AWA
My AWA practice mostly happened with the mock tests as I gave all mock tests with AWA. As suggested by everyone in GMATClub, I followed the method explained by Chineseburned. If your English writing is generally good without many spelling mistakes and if you follow this method meticulously you are bound to get 6 in AWA as I did. I think, many people in GMATClub including me owe a big thanks to Chineseburned for this. You can find it here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html
In the beginning of my preparation, I studied this technique carefully and then prepared my introduction and conclusion. You should prepare your own copy following Chineseburned, don’t just copy it ditto. Then, in every test, in the AWA section I would write the introduction and conclusion paragraphs in the first 5 to 8 minutes after reading the statement. Then, I used to think about 3-4 flaws and wrote them down and in the next 15-17 minutes I would elaborate on those points as advised in the post above. The last 2-3 minutes were for revision.
On the week before GMAT, on one day I practiced about 6 AWA back to back with a small break midway. I took the topics randomly from OG 15.
Integrated Reasoning
My preparation was weakest in IR. My GMAT IR score of 5 reflects that. Though I managed about 6-7 in the GMATPrep tests, I could not do well in actual GMAT. I invested minimum time in IR. I mainly practiced the 50 questions coming free with OG 15 and the limited number of questions from the GMATPrep software. I thought, it is like AWA only and as I am giving the mock tests with IR as well, my practice will be sufficient as it was the case with AWA. However, you need a lot more practice to score a perfect 8 in IR. But the problem is that it is not that important. I was a bit worried about my score of 5, but I got 13 interviews and 4 admits with it. If you have good score in Verbal, quants and AWA then IR does not matter much. If you have scored more than 3 then I guess it will be fine with a good overall score.
Tests
Mock test are very important for a good score. I started giving mock tests after week 1 only and gave mock tests every weekend after that. I booked GMAT on a Sunday from 2 PM. So, I started my mock tests around 2-3 pm after lunch on weekends and I gave all tests with AWA and IR to give it a real feel and practice giving test continuously for 4 hours. This way I built my stamina. Only one mock test was an exception -the MGMAT test I gave on the day before actual GMAT.
GMATPrep: These are the closest you can get to actual GMAT. What you score on the GMATPrep before your GMAT will be within 10-20 points of your actual GMAT score. This is true for most people. You should first try installing an older version of the software available in internet. Use the two practice tests. Then only around the end of your preparation give the two tests from the latest version available from GMAC website (mba.com). You should also buy the GMATPrep exam pack with two extra tests and give them just before the GMAT to gauge your actual score. However, your last scores will be a bit inflated as you may find some repeat questions.
MGMAT: The next best mock tests after GMATPrep. You should definitely give these. The quant section is very tough and heavier on calculations. However, the scoring is generous. The verbal section and scoring is very close to GMAT. The overall score will be a bit lower than GMATPrep and GMAT unless you are giving repeat tests.
Princeton Tests: I gave these as suggested by Expert Global. But they are pretty easy and do not give the correct score as they don’t have many 700 level questions. Good for target score of 650, but not good for a target above 700.
My mock test scores
1. 21-Jun-15 – Princeton 1 – 670 (Q43, V40)
2. 28-Jun-15 – Princeton 2 – 650 (Q45, V36)
3. 30-Jun-15 – Princeton 3 – 690 (Q51, V34)
4. 12-Jul-15 – Princeton 4 – 650 (Q44, V37)
5. 18-Jul-15 – MGMAT 1 – 660 (Q46, V34)
6. 19-Jul-15 – MGMAT 2 – 660 (Q44, V36)
7. 25-Jul-15 – MGMAT 3 – 710 (Q48, V38)
8. 01-Aug-15 – GMATPrep 1 – 730 (Q50, V38)
9. 02-Aug-15 – MGMAT 4 – 690 (Q48, V36)
10. 08-Aug-15 – GMATPrep Exam Pack1 – 720 (Q50, V37)
11. 09-Aug-15 – GMATPrep Exam Pack2 – 740 (Q51, V38)
12. 15-Aug-15 – GMATPrep 2 – 770 (Q51, V44) – Inflated due to repeat questions
13. 15-Aug-15 – MGMAT 5 – 730 (Q50, V39)
16th August, 2015 - Actual GMAT – 760 (Q50, V41), AWA – 6, IR – 5
At first, I had a speed problem and I was getting stuck in some questions in MGMAT and wasting time. Due to this, I had to leave some questions at the end or had to randomly guess on them. After that, I started guessing on these tough questions even if they were among the first 15 questions. My scores improved a lot when I started guessing the tough questions as I had more time at the end to complete all questions and had to guess only the last one or two.
Visiting the GMAT Center 1 week before actual GMAT
I visited my GMAT center in Kolkata, India one week before the actual GMAT. This really helped a lot. I knew exactly where it was in my big clumsy city and how to reach there from my home. I knew what it looked like. After reading about all the security thing and working in a big corporate company, I built a somewhat grand idea about a GMAT center. But my center was just like a very small computer coaching center in India at the top floor of a quiet residential building. The visit actually helped curb my expectations about the center and I knew the key details like where the bathroom was, where the lockers were, whom to meet etc. Believe me, it will help settle your nerves very easily on the G-day.
Some key things that helped me
1. Set a deadline - I registered for GMAT exam on 14th June just a day after I started my preparation seriously and set the GMAT date as 16th August. So I gave myself exactly 2 months. I work well with deadlines. Probably a bad habit from Indian IT industry.
2. Build the concepts - The first 15 days, I mainly devoted on studying the several topics where I was weak or I was not clear. I also practiced some questions in between from the topics I read.
3. Practice all types every day - I practiced each of the 5 types of questions in verbal and quants section every day for the last 45 days of my preparation. Even if it was only 5 questions of one type. If I needed to do some studying, I used to do that additionally. Separate practice was not required on the days when I gave mock tests.
4. Keep Error log - I noted down the questions that I got wrong during practice. I analyzed them and wrote down the reasons for which I made a mistake. If it was from a book then I marked the question in the book. If it was from a soft copy then I was noting it down in an excel file.
5. Take Short notes - I made short notes in an excel file with the key concepts of every area. I made notes for my weak areas separately highlighting the type of questions I am making mistakes regularly.
6. Revise from error log - I used to practice all the questions that I got wrong one week after attempting them for the first time. If I got them wrong again then I would try the incorrect ones again on the next week and so on.
7. Practice in a time bound manner - After I built the concepts in the first 15 day, I always kept the time of each question through my mobile stop watch. I tried to set a goal for the total time spent for say, 10 questions and tried to adhere to the time. I even guessed on a few question if I felt I am taking too much time. This helped with guessing techniques as well. I marked the questions that took significantly longer and tried to understand the concept from the answer choice examples. I practiced those again after 1 week.
8. Give as many mock tests as possible, including AWA and IR - I started giving mock tests just one week after my preparations and I included AWA and IR for every mock test. I gave 13 mock tests in 2 months, almost 1 every 5 days.
9. Analyze mock tests - After every mock test, I used to analyze all the mistakes very carefully and checked the areas where I could have improved including my speed and guessing techniques.
10. Practice guessing techniques - I consciously tried to practice guessing during the mock tests whenever I got a very tough question. Generally I used to omit three options and guess the one that seemed best from the rest two. It helped me keep up my speed in the actual exam. If you are behind a lot in verbal then guess all questions of the longest RC randomly. It will save a lot of time. GMAC actually penalizes heavily for a flurry of wrong answers at the end, but not that much if they are in the middle and if you have string of right answers at the end.
11. Treat mocks as real - I took the breaks between sections in mock test as it is for original GMAT, splashed water on my face as I would have done during original GMAT and did some light hand, eye and neck exercise to avoid stiffness.
12. The previous day practice - Though many people have suggested to take complete rest before the G-day, I actually gave two mock tests on the day before GMAT - One GMATPrep with AWA and IR and one MGMAT without AWA and IR. I thought it kept me on the groove for the next day.
My G-Day experience
I scheduled my GMAT on 16th August, Sunday at 2 pm. It was my preferred time as I selected the slot two months earlier.
I had 7 hours of sleep on the previous night and woke up at 8 am. I did practice about 5-10 questions of each of the 5 types in the morning and then I took a shower and brunch. I took my passport, put chocolates and juices in my bag, booked a taxi and left for the center at around 11:30 so that I have enough time to dodge the notorious traffic in Kolkata. Someone said chocolates and juices are good and sugar and cocoa actually stimulates your brain. I don’t know the truth but I like both chocolate and juices. So I didn’t bother to verify.
As it was a Sunday, the traffic on the road was light and I reached the center at 12:45 pm. So I had about 1 hour to relax. In that period only I had my first chocolate. The exam started 10 minutes before time as I was early and the previous person already left by then.
During the initial screens for instructions I made an ABCDE grid for verbal to eliminate answer choices and remembered and wrote down (in short) my AWA introduction and conclusion.
AWA section was as expected. The argument was typical and I found three flaws. Wrote down the introduction and conclusion and then elaborated the three points in between. Did have only 2 minutes for revision, but that was sufficient. Pressed the submit button 2 seconds before end time.
IR section was also as expected. But I could sense the questions were not that typical that I found during my practice or mock tests. However, to keep the time I had to guess some. I finished on time. I knew I didn’t do too well, but I was not bothered much as I knew the next two sections are most crucial.
Break 1: 1 Juice + 1 chocolate + Went to toilet + Splashed water on face + Some light hand and neck exercise.
Quants section: My target in quants was 51. I started well and I did not guess on a single question. But I had a feeling at around question 25 that I am not getting the hard questions that I should get if I am on my way to 51. I got a bit nervous thinking I may have done a silly mistake in between. But I quickly gave up that thought and concentrated on the question on hand. But I was probably right as I scored 50 even after thinking that I got everything right and that also with 3 minutes to spare.
Break 2: 1 Juice + 1 chocolate + Went to toilet + Splashed water on face + Some light hand and neck exercise.
Verbal section: I thought I did well in quants so I started with light but alert mind. The verbal section started with a medium SC question and I got my natural flow. I was stuck on some tough SC and CR questions at around question 20 mark but I made some educated guess and went on. I got my big RC in the middle. It was a long one and I made an educated guess on one question. I was a bit behind on time so I picked up my speed and guessed one more hard CR. But I was feeling the tiredness in the last 7-8 questions. I continued to concentrate hard though. I had 45 seconds for the last SC and I completed that 1 second to spare.
After it got over, I took a deep breath and answered the survey questions patiently. Then I waited for the results and when it showed on the screen I could not believe my eyes. I was expecting a 740 with my performance, but 760 was a bonus. I was very happy and excited. I raised my hand and came out to collect my unofficial report.
Once I got out from the centre, I called my wife and parents. It was really a satisfying experience.
I know this is a very long post. But I hope this will help and encourage people, especially the ones at the wrong side of 30, with a family and a senior post at office. I could not give much time on weekdays after managing my 30 member team at office. I used to be up till late at night and had to wake up early in the morning. My wife supported me a lot as I could not give much time to her during this period and the whole application period after it. But ultimately it was a big step towards our future and it required that hard work and those sacrifices.
Thanks for your precious time to go through such a long post and all the best if you are taking the GMAT. Please feel free to ask any question through this thread or private messages. I will be more than happy to help.
Background
I am in the clichéd IIM category – Indian IT Male. To add to that, I was 34 and had more than 11 years of experience when I wrote GMAT. And I had to manage a 30 member team at my workplace with extended office hours. Most MBA blogs, B-Schools (only after I applied) and even admission consultants suggested that I should probably go for an executive MBA only. But I was keen to go back to school to have the ‘Full Time’ experience of being a student again. Probably, this time, to be a student of life.
My wife was very supportive as she had to sacrifice a lot of quality time I could spend with her to allow me to prepare for GMAT, TOEFL and the entire application process. I am really thankful to her for her support. She has more sacrifices to make when I spend the next one year in Oxford while she continues with her job in Kolkata, India.
I wrote GMAT in August, 2015, but I am writing the experience now mainly for two reasons – first, I had to concentrate on my application process and second, I wanted to see the impact of GMAT score on my application so that I could bring in those aspects as well. I have discussed about that in more details in my application experience post here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/indian-it-male-age-35-13-interview-4-admits-2-full-scholarships-219953.html#p1695073.
Also, you can find my TOEFL experience debrief here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/toefl-score-of-112-in-3-days-indian-candidate-219952.html.
Enough of background. Now let’s come to the main story.
Total preparation time for GMAT – Exactly 2 Months between June and August.
List of Materials and Professional Help
I registered for the GMAT distance tutorial from Experts Global. It was good for me as it did not require me to waste my time in travelling and it was flexible as I could study the material whenever I wanted to and whenever I had time. I told them that I could study for 2 hours on weekdays and 5 hours on weekends and they prepared an elaborate day-wise plan accordingly. Before that, I shared my initial score for the exam they sent and I also shared my perception about my strengths and weaknesses. I tweaked that plan a bit as per my need and timings, but the basic part was not changed.
The materials I used are listed below -
Verbal:
1. Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide 5th edition
2. Official Guide 13, 14 & 15 (15 – Thoroughly, 13 & 14 – Only touched them)
3. Verbal Review for Official Guide 2nd Edition (Only a few SC and CR questions)
4. Princeton Review
5. Princeton’s 1012 extra questions (Only RC)
6. Power Score CR Bible
7. Expert Global Materials
Quants:
1. Official Guide 15
2. Nova’s Data Sufficiency (DS only)
3. GMAT Challenge Sets – Jeff Stackmann
4. Quatum CAT (Probability, Numbers, Inequality, Permutation & Combination, Set Theory, Geometry, Co-ordinates)
5. Expert Global Materials
Test Resources:
1. GMAT prep (latest version)
2. GMAT prep (older version)
3. GMAT prep Exam Pack
4. Manhattan GMAT tests (MGMATs)
5. Princeton tests
Sentence Correction
As with most other Indian engineers, verbal was my weak link. I would not say that SC was the weakest part, but it was certainly the most baffling part. Sometimes I would correctly find out the answer by using my common sense and sometimes I would make a silly mistake by not understanding the correct approach and falling into the trap.
Please note, GMAT verbal is lot about common sense and not falling into the trap of common mistakes we do every day, rather than having a strong grasp over English grammar and vocabulary. SC is the one part where common sense combined with right approach helps a lot. Yes, your basic grammar needs to be good, otherwise it might be difficult.
Fortunately, I was good with grammar and that helped. But still I could not avoid the traps in the beginning. Remember, in GMAT verbal, as they say, there is really no correct answer, there is a best answer. So, the best way to find it is to eliminate the wrong answers and the second best answers.
For the easier SC questions there will be four incorrect choices. But for the harder questions there will only be 2-3 grammatically incorrect choices and there will be at least 1 or 2 second best choices that are grammatically correct, but either changes the meaning of the sentence or sounds awkward. In these cases, you need to use a lot of common sense and you need to understand the meaning and tone of the sentence. To develop accuracy in this part, one needs a lot of practice.
The best book for this is obviously the Manhattan SC guide which will help you understand the GMAT grammar part and how it uses the traps. However, the common sense and meaning of sentence part discussed above can only be improved by practising the official questions from OG, Verbal review, GMATPrep and understanding the answer choice explanations. You need to exactly know why and how they remove incorrect and second best choices.
I read the Princeton review book on the first day and completed the Manhattan SC guide on the next two days. After that, I practiced at least 10 SC questions almost every day in my 2 months of preparation, as I understood that practice is the only thing that will improve my SC. It really helped as I answered around 90% of the official questions correctly within time in the last stage.
Reading Comprehension
RC was a weak point for me as it ate into valuable time. I was initially very slow to read and understand the passages and then while answering questions I took a lot of time to find out the correct area. In spite of all this, still I would get some questions incorrect by falling into the traps. One aspect of practising a lot of official questions and reading all answer explanations thoroughly is that it helps you understand all kind of traps that GMAT uses to make you select an incorrect choice.
The RC was another part that I practiced almost every day after I went through the Princeton book and the Manhattan RC guide. I attempted at least 10 questions or 2 passages every day. In the beginning, I paused a bit after reading each passage to summarize it in my head and I used to write the main idea of each paragraph. I wrote the main idea of the passage at the end from the main ideas of the paragraphs. This process took me longer but it helped me find the relevant areas of the passage quickly after reading the questions and helped me answer the main idea questions.
In the last three weeks of my practice when the summarizing became convenient to me I used to do the summarizing in my head only and did not write it down as it was saving some precious time. Now, my memory is generally good, at least people say that and I trust them and my memory. If you are not that confident then you should write it down, probably you may try some shorthand technique there.
In the last stage of my practice, again my accuracy improved to almost 90% in a time bound manner.
Critical Reasoning
After giving my first practice exam, I got a false impression that I am relatively stronger in CR in the verbal part. However, when I started the time bound practice and gave my first GMATPrep exam, I understood my mistake as in some cases I got almost 40% incorrect and took the most time on average in a section in the verbal part.
After that only, I started to read Power Score CR Bible. It took me a few days as it is a big book, but it is totally worth it. You will have the right idea about how to approach each type of questions. Earlier, I was only using my common sense and reasoning. But you also need the right approach and do some pre-thinking to avoid the traps. Again, it requires a lot of practice and I did at least 10 questions every day. My accuracy was around 85% in the last stages. As it is for other areas in verbal, you need to go through the official explanations for each incorrect choice thoroughly to understand why and how 4 answer choices are eliminated. The whole verbal part is about eliminating 4 answer choices to find the best answer in a timely manner. If you are not sure or short on time then eliminate three and make an educated guess on the rest two.
Problem Solving
As Maths (Arithmetic and Algebra in particular) was my favourite subject in School and as I am an Indian Engineer, Quants was my strength. So, rather than reading any book, I just jumped into solving questions. I found OG questions to be simpler. But the GMAT Challenge Sets by Jeff Stackmann were really good. They are perfect if you are targeting a high score in Quants. I did practice all the sets.
When I was doing the problem solving from these sets then only I found that I am doing silly mistakes by falling into the traps. My accuracy was 90%, however in most areas I could have achieved 100% if I was more careful. After 2-3 weeks I started noting the times and I tried to answer 20 questions within 40 minutes. My accuracy dropped to 80%. I continued practising in a time bound manner and just before the GMAT my accuracy was around 95%.
I was not very strong in Probability, permutation and combination and some of the number problems like remainder and power. I studied from the books mentioned above and I studied Quantum CAT for Probability, permutation and combination. I improved a lot on these and was able to solve the questions a lot quicker as my GMAT date came nearer.
Data Sufficiency
Though my Maths was strong, I struggled with DS a bit in the beginning. However, again the GMAT Challenge Sets by Jeff Stackmann were very helpful. Nova’s Data Sufficiency is also a very good resource if you are struggling in DS. It has very good questions in Inequality, geometry and Co-ordinates which were a bit weak areas for me. My accuracy was 80% in the beginning, with time bound manner it dropped to 70%. But I improved to around 90% in a time bound manner just before the actual test.
Again you need to practice a lot and try to practice at least 10 questions every day to do well in DS.
AWA
My AWA practice mostly happened with the mock tests as I gave all mock tests with AWA. As suggested by everyone in GMATClub, I followed the method explained by Chineseburned. If your English writing is generally good without many spelling mistakes and if you follow this method meticulously you are bound to get 6 in AWA as I did. I think, many people in GMATClub including me owe a big thanks to Chineseburned for this. You can find it here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html
In the beginning of my preparation, I studied this technique carefully and then prepared my introduction and conclusion. You should prepare your own copy following Chineseburned, don’t just copy it ditto. Then, in every test, in the AWA section I would write the introduction and conclusion paragraphs in the first 5 to 8 minutes after reading the statement. Then, I used to think about 3-4 flaws and wrote them down and in the next 15-17 minutes I would elaborate on those points as advised in the post above. The last 2-3 minutes were for revision.
On the week before GMAT, on one day I practiced about 6 AWA back to back with a small break midway. I took the topics randomly from OG 15.
Integrated Reasoning
My preparation was weakest in IR. My GMAT IR score of 5 reflects that. Though I managed about 6-7 in the GMATPrep tests, I could not do well in actual GMAT. I invested minimum time in IR. I mainly practiced the 50 questions coming free with OG 15 and the limited number of questions from the GMATPrep software. I thought, it is like AWA only and as I am giving the mock tests with IR as well, my practice will be sufficient as it was the case with AWA. However, you need a lot more practice to score a perfect 8 in IR. But the problem is that it is not that important. I was a bit worried about my score of 5, but I got 13 interviews and 4 admits with it. If you have good score in Verbal, quants and AWA then IR does not matter much. If you have scored more than 3 then I guess it will be fine with a good overall score.
Tests
Mock test are very important for a good score. I started giving mock tests after week 1 only and gave mock tests every weekend after that. I booked GMAT on a Sunday from 2 PM. So, I started my mock tests around 2-3 pm after lunch on weekends and I gave all tests with AWA and IR to give it a real feel and practice giving test continuously for 4 hours. This way I built my stamina. Only one mock test was an exception -the MGMAT test I gave on the day before actual GMAT.
GMATPrep: These are the closest you can get to actual GMAT. What you score on the GMATPrep before your GMAT will be within 10-20 points of your actual GMAT score. This is true for most people. You should first try installing an older version of the software available in internet. Use the two practice tests. Then only around the end of your preparation give the two tests from the latest version available from GMAC website (mba.com). You should also buy the GMATPrep exam pack with two extra tests and give them just before the GMAT to gauge your actual score. However, your last scores will be a bit inflated as you may find some repeat questions.
MGMAT: The next best mock tests after GMATPrep. You should definitely give these. The quant section is very tough and heavier on calculations. However, the scoring is generous. The verbal section and scoring is very close to GMAT. The overall score will be a bit lower than GMATPrep and GMAT unless you are giving repeat tests.
Princeton Tests: I gave these as suggested by Expert Global. But they are pretty easy and do not give the correct score as they don’t have many 700 level questions. Good for target score of 650, but not good for a target above 700.
My mock test scores
1. 21-Jun-15 – Princeton 1 – 670 (Q43, V40)
2. 28-Jun-15 – Princeton 2 – 650 (Q45, V36)
3. 30-Jun-15 – Princeton 3 – 690 (Q51, V34)
4. 12-Jul-15 – Princeton 4 – 650 (Q44, V37)
5. 18-Jul-15 – MGMAT 1 – 660 (Q46, V34)
6. 19-Jul-15 – MGMAT 2 – 660 (Q44, V36)
7. 25-Jul-15 – MGMAT 3 – 710 (Q48, V38)
8. 01-Aug-15 – GMATPrep 1 – 730 (Q50, V38)
9. 02-Aug-15 – MGMAT 4 – 690 (Q48, V36)
10. 08-Aug-15 – GMATPrep Exam Pack1 – 720 (Q50, V37)
11. 09-Aug-15 – GMATPrep Exam Pack2 – 740 (Q51, V38)
12. 15-Aug-15 – GMATPrep 2 – 770 (Q51, V44) – Inflated due to repeat questions
13. 15-Aug-15 – MGMAT 5 – 730 (Q50, V39)
16th August, 2015 - Actual GMAT – 760 (Q50, V41), AWA – 6, IR – 5
At first, I had a speed problem and I was getting stuck in some questions in MGMAT and wasting time. Due to this, I had to leave some questions at the end or had to randomly guess on them. After that, I started guessing on these tough questions even if they were among the first 15 questions. My scores improved a lot when I started guessing the tough questions as I had more time at the end to complete all questions and had to guess only the last one or two.
Visiting the GMAT Center 1 week before actual GMAT
I visited my GMAT center in Kolkata, India one week before the actual GMAT. This really helped a lot. I knew exactly where it was in my big clumsy city and how to reach there from my home. I knew what it looked like. After reading about all the security thing and working in a big corporate company, I built a somewhat grand idea about a GMAT center. But my center was just like a very small computer coaching center in India at the top floor of a quiet residential building. The visit actually helped curb my expectations about the center and I knew the key details like where the bathroom was, where the lockers were, whom to meet etc. Believe me, it will help settle your nerves very easily on the G-day.
Some key things that helped me
1. Set a deadline - I registered for GMAT exam on 14th June just a day after I started my preparation seriously and set the GMAT date as 16th August. So I gave myself exactly 2 months. I work well with deadlines. Probably a bad habit from Indian IT industry.
2. Build the concepts - The first 15 days, I mainly devoted on studying the several topics where I was weak or I was not clear. I also practiced some questions in between from the topics I read.
3. Practice all types every day - I practiced each of the 5 types of questions in verbal and quants section every day for the last 45 days of my preparation. Even if it was only 5 questions of one type. If I needed to do some studying, I used to do that additionally. Separate practice was not required on the days when I gave mock tests.
4. Keep Error log - I noted down the questions that I got wrong during practice. I analyzed them and wrote down the reasons for which I made a mistake. If it was from a book then I marked the question in the book. If it was from a soft copy then I was noting it down in an excel file.
5. Take Short notes - I made short notes in an excel file with the key concepts of every area. I made notes for my weak areas separately highlighting the type of questions I am making mistakes regularly.
6. Revise from error log - I used to practice all the questions that I got wrong one week after attempting them for the first time. If I got them wrong again then I would try the incorrect ones again on the next week and so on.
7. Practice in a time bound manner - After I built the concepts in the first 15 day, I always kept the time of each question through my mobile stop watch. I tried to set a goal for the total time spent for say, 10 questions and tried to adhere to the time. I even guessed on a few question if I felt I am taking too much time. This helped with guessing techniques as well. I marked the questions that took significantly longer and tried to understand the concept from the answer choice examples. I practiced those again after 1 week.
8. Give as many mock tests as possible, including AWA and IR - I started giving mock tests just one week after my preparations and I included AWA and IR for every mock test. I gave 13 mock tests in 2 months, almost 1 every 5 days.
9. Analyze mock tests - After every mock test, I used to analyze all the mistakes very carefully and checked the areas where I could have improved including my speed and guessing techniques.
10. Practice guessing techniques - I consciously tried to practice guessing during the mock tests whenever I got a very tough question. Generally I used to omit three options and guess the one that seemed best from the rest two. It helped me keep up my speed in the actual exam. If you are behind a lot in verbal then guess all questions of the longest RC randomly. It will save a lot of time. GMAC actually penalizes heavily for a flurry of wrong answers at the end, but not that much if they are in the middle and if you have string of right answers at the end.
11. Treat mocks as real - I took the breaks between sections in mock test as it is for original GMAT, splashed water on my face as I would have done during original GMAT and did some light hand, eye and neck exercise to avoid stiffness.
12. The previous day practice - Though many people have suggested to take complete rest before the G-day, I actually gave two mock tests on the day before GMAT - One GMATPrep with AWA and IR and one MGMAT without AWA and IR. I thought it kept me on the groove for the next day.
My G-Day experience
I scheduled my GMAT on 16th August, Sunday at 2 pm. It was my preferred time as I selected the slot two months earlier.
I had 7 hours of sleep on the previous night and woke up at 8 am. I did practice about 5-10 questions of each of the 5 types in the morning and then I took a shower and brunch. I took my passport, put chocolates and juices in my bag, booked a taxi and left for the center at around 11:30 so that I have enough time to dodge the notorious traffic in Kolkata. Someone said chocolates and juices are good and sugar and cocoa actually stimulates your brain. I don’t know the truth but I like both chocolate and juices. So I didn’t bother to verify.
As it was a Sunday, the traffic on the road was light and I reached the center at 12:45 pm. So I had about 1 hour to relax. In that period only I had my first chocolate. The exam started 10 minutes before time as I was early and the previous person already left by then.
During the initial screens for instructions I made an ABCDE grid for verbal to eliminate answer choices and remembered and wrote down (in short) my AWA introduction and conclusion.
AWA section was as expected. The argument was typical and I found three flaws. Wrote down the introduction and conclusion and then elaborated the three points in between. Did have only 2 minutes for revision, but that was sufficient. Pressed the submit button 2 seconds before end time.
IR section was also as expected. But I could sense the questions were not that typical that I found during my practice or mock tests. However, to keep the time I had to guess some. I finished on time. I knew I didn’t do too well, but I was not bothered much as I knew the next two sections are most crucial.
Break 1: 1 Juice + 1 chocolate + Went to toilet + Splashed water on face + Some light hand and neck exercise.
Quants section: My target in quants was 51. I started well and I did not guess on a single question. But I had a feeling at around question 25 that I am not getting the hard questions that I should get if I am on my way to 51. I got a bit nervous thinking I may have done a silly mistake in between. But I quickly gave up that thought and concentrated on the question on hand. But I was probably right as I scored 50 even after thinking that I got everything right and that also with 3 minutes to spare.
Break 2: 1 Juice + 1 chocolate + Went to toilet + Splashed water on face + Some light hand and neck exercise.
Verbal section: I thought I did well in quants so I started with light but alert mind. The verbal section started with a medium SC question and I got my natural flow. I was stuck on some tough SC and CR questions at around question 20 mark but I made some educated guess and went on. I got my big RC in the middle. It was a long one and I made an educated guess on one question. I was a bit behind on time so I picked up my speed and guessed one more hard CR. But I was feeling the tiredness in the last 7-8 questions. I continued to concentrate hard though. I had 45 seconds for the last SC and I completed that 1 second to spare.
After it got over, I took a deep breath and answered the survey questions patiently. Then I waited for the results and when it showed on the screen I could not believe my eyes. I was expecting a 740 with my performance, but 760 was a bonus. I was very happy and excited. I raised my hand and came out to collect my unofficial report.
Once I got out from the centre, I called my wife and parents. It was really a satisfying experience.
I know this is a very long post. But I hope this will help and encourage people, especially the ones at the wrong side of 30, with a family and a senior post at office. I could not give much time on weekdays after managing my 30 member team at office. I used to be up till late at night and had to wake up early in the morning. My wife supported me a lot as I could not give much time to her during this period and the whole application period after it. But ultimately it was a big step towards our future and it required that hard work and those sacrifices.
Thanks for your precious time to go through such a long post and all the best if you are taking the GMAT. Please feel free to ask any question through this thread or private messages. I will be more than happy to help.
16 Jun 2016, 23:13
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congratulations bhaiya on getting such a score and making it to the Oxford . Your story (GMAT and Application journey) is very inspiring.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
17 Jun 2016, 09:15
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congratulations Sir.
Your post is very helpful and motivating.
Do you have any post for your application journey as well?
Your post is very helpful and motivating.
Do you have any post for your application journey as well?
